What to Know
- Health care workers deemed a top priority in receiving vaccinations.
- It will be well into next year until vaccines are available to the general public.
- The county hopes to receive a second allocation of vaccines by Dec. 21, with priority expanding to include residents and staff at skilled nursing centers and long-term care facilities.
An initial allocation of roughly 84,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses could be received in Los Angeles County as early as next week, with initial priority given to health care workers, according to the county's public heath director.
The welcomed news came Tuesday as the county confirmed another 8,547 cases of the coronavirus, the latest in a string of alarming daily case counts. On Wednesday, an additional 9,243 new positive cases were reported for a total of 475, 217 cases.
A tearful Dr. Barbara Ferrer announced the figures at a Wednesday news conference by the county health department.
"While this trend line provides a frightening visual of our reality, the more terrible truth is that over 8,000 people who were beloved members of their families are not coming back," Dr. Ferrer said, pausing as she spoke at a podium. "Their deaths are an incalculable loss to their friends and their families, as well as our community."
Los Angeles County also reported another 64 deaths -- pushing the countywide death toll from the virus to the 8,000 mark. Long Beach reported five additional fatalities Tuesday afternoon, while Pasadena added one more, giving the county an overall total of 8,006.
The number of people hospitalized with the virus also topped 3,000 for the first time, reaching 3,113.
The pending arrival of vaccines offers some glimmer of hope about an potential end to the pandemic, but officials noted it will be well into next year until vaccines are available to the general public.
“Because there's not sufficient supply, vaccine eligibility will be determined by phases of prioritization that have been developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ... as well as guidance that's developed by the California Department of Public Health,'' county Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer told the Board of Supervisors. ``Local planning is essential to assist in the implementation based on our current status and trends in transmission across this entire county.”
With health care workers deemed a top priority in receiving vaccinations in what is known as “Phase 1a'' of the CDC-determined distribution plan, the county will distribute the initial wave of doses to acute-care hospitals, Ferrer said.
“And we will be working with all of the health care facilities to make sure that they also have an ability to prioritize by risk of exposure the allocation within their facilities,'' Ferrer said. ``There is not enough in this initial allocation to vaccinate all of the health care workers at all of the acute-care hospitals, which will be the first priority.”
She said the county hopes to receive a second allocation of vaccines by Dec. 21, with priority expanding to include residents and staff at skilled nursing centers and long-term care facilities. That distribution will be administered through federal government contracts with CVS and Walgreens, Ferrer said.
Ferrer said the vaccine distribution will then spread to other priority locations, including dialysis centers, infusion centers, substance-abuse and mental-health facilities and primary care clinics, as well as public health clinical and field workers, home health care and in-home supportive services workers and health care workers at pharmacies. Following will be clinical labs and imaging centers and specialty clinics.
“Our hope would be by the end of January we receive enough vaccine here in the county that we completed Phase 1a, but again the unknown is how quickly allocations will get out into our field,'' Ferrer said. “The distribution mechanics for 1a have already been secured, so really 1a will move efficiently with, again, the receipt of appropriate doses. The federal plan is perhaps for a third allocation at the end of December, then weekly allocations... throughout the upcoming new year.”
Although the pending arrival of vaccines offered some hope that the pandemic could be moving closer to an end, officials said widespread vaccination is still months away.
“Let's be honest, it's going to be a while until we really can vaccinate all of L.A. County,'' Supervisor Janice Hahn said.
She noted that with the number of health care workers and staff and residents and nursing facilities and long-term care centers ranging between 250,000 and 300,000 -- and the fact that the vaccination requires two doses -- that's 600,000 doses that need to be administered before the general public will start having access.
Hahn also recognized that there may still be public resistance to taking a hastily developed vaccine, but said, “I think the vast majority of people want to get back to their lives.”
The board approved a motion calling on public health officials to report back next month on funding needs for vaccine administration, including a “messaging campaign'' to reach out to the public about the availability and safety of the vaccine, particularly in vulnerable communities that may "resist taking the vaccine.”
Ferrer said Monday that the recent surge in cases and hospitalizations has led to a sudden spike in infections affecting health care workers. She said 1,745 infections were reported last week among health care workers in the county, more than double the number confirmed the prior week, and the highest number of the entire pandemic.
Those infections mean fewer medical workers available to staff beds, exacerbating hospital space issues.
The county remains under a state regional stay-at-home order, which went into effect at 11:59 p.m. Sunday. It was triggered when intensive-care unit bed availability fell below 15% in the 11-county Southern California region. As of Tuesday, the ICU availability in the region was estimated at 10.1%.
The Southern California region consists of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Diego, Imperial, Inyo, Mono, San Bernardino, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara and Ventura counties.
The stay-at-home order will be in place for three weeks and bars gatherings of people from different households. Regions will be eligible to exit from the order on Dec. 28 if ICU capacity projections for the following month are above or equal to 15%.
